The Story of Silver Ketchum
by Mewgirl
Summary: The story of Ash's great-granddaughter and the beginning of her Pokemon adventure
1. Default Chapter Title

The Story of Silver Ketchum

By Mewgirl

Chapter 1- The Discovery

Mew was acting strangely. Ever since she had run away with the wild pack that prowled the streets of Pallet Town, she had never acted the same. Sure, she was still affectionate towards Silver, but it was almost as if she wanted more out of this Pokémon- Owner relationship. Outwards, she was still the same Mew she had always been, but she had developed some very odd tendencies, such as roaming the house. She was doing this now.

Silver flopped onto the couch. She was tired of looking for Mew, so she decided to let Mew find _her_ for once. Glancing about her surroundings, and not seeing the familiar pink-and-white tail of her best friend, Silver sat back and began to think, not of anything in particular, just letting her thoughts go where they wanted.

Silver was 13. She was also a direct descendent of the greatest Pokémon master of 

all time, Ash Ketchum. His great-granddaughter, to be exact. But he had been dead for longer than she had been alive. Silver reflected on how different their worlds were. No longer were there flocks of wild Pidgey roaming the land. Rattata did not roam the fields of wild grasses. Bellsprout no longer spread their roots in the shade of the forests. Silver's world was one of created, cloned, and manipulated Pokémon. Almost all of the 150 Pokémon Ash had known were extinct. Strangely, all of the Pokémon known as rare in Ash's time were now abundant, having been captured and cloned multiple times. 

Silver's thoughts drifted to Mew. Mew had been Silver's pet and best friend since Silver's fifth birthday, when her father had found it in the backyard, alone. On her tenth birthday, when most children in Pallet Town begin their Pokémon journeys, Silver was not allowed to go with the others. Her parents claimed that Mew had become too domesticated during the five years Silver had owned her. 

Silver's parents were very protective of her, perhaps since she was an only child. They had decided that Silver would not become a Pokémon trainer like everyone else in the Ketchum family. Silver resented this. It wasn't like she had any friends in Pallet Town, or even anything to do. All she had was Mew. But her parents were firm in their decision. Or were three years ago.

Silver's reverie of thought was broken by a noise. "Mew!" The small, familiar Pokémon hopped onto her lap. "Mew, mew!" it squeaked, "Mew!" Mew jumped off Silver and ran to the doorway, still mewing for Silver to follow. Silver did. Mew led her all the way to the attic, where she had obviously been exploring. Mew bounded up the stairs and to a desolate, dimly lit corner of the large attic, disappearing into a large trunk that her stubby arms had somehow forced open. Silver peered inside. 

"Mew, it's only a bunch of old clothes," Silver said, puzzled. "What's so important…" Silver trailed off in mid-sentence. She stared at what Mew had found at the bottom of the trunk. A moth-eaten red-and-white baseball cap, several dog-eared photos, yellowed with age, and a small leather-bound book.

Silver gingerly touched the antiques. She carefully picked them all up and headed downstairs with Mew. Reassuming her seat on the couch, Silver studied the items. The baseball cap yielded no clues, except for the fact that the strange symbol on the front matched the symbols on the Pallet Town local baseball teams uniforms. The photos were more interesting. One showed a group of three people, kids about Silver's age, and a Pikachu. The smallest boy in the picture wore a baseball cap, jeans, and a blue-and-white jacket. The Pikachu was sitting on his head. The taller boy had spiky brown hair and squinty eyes set in an angular face. He looked like a gym leader Silver had seen somewhere. The girl had bright red hair and looked kinda… well, conceited. But the picture was too worn out for her to see any more. She moved on to the other pictures. The next three weren't much better. Just close-ups of the girl, the tall boy, and the Pikachu. Silver flipped them over. On the backs of the first two were names, Misty for the girl and Brock for the boy. Nothing special. The last picture was the most interesting. It showed the smaller boy, close up, and was in surprisingly good condition. Silver stared. _He was wearing the hat that she now held in her hands._ And his face was so familiar… Silver turned toward the window to take a better look. As she turned, she caught a glimpse of her face in the mirror, and realized that _she looked exactly like the boy in the picture._ Her hands trembling, she turned the picture over. The caption on the back read Ash Ketchum. Now everything fit together. It was her great-grandfather.

"Mew, how did you know?" Silver whispered to her companion. Mew looked at her, silent. Silver really didn't expect an answer. She hugged her friend. 

"Mew, mew," Mew squeaked, nudging the small book toward Silver. Silver wondered what it was. She opened it. _The Diary of Ash Ketchum_,Silver read. 

To Be Continued


	2. Default Chapter Title

The Story of Silver Ketchum

Chapter 2-The Chance

Silver could hardly stop reading the diary that week. She hardly ate or slept. She even forgot to feed Mew, leaving the job for her mother. The diary seemed to become a part of her, since she was never without it. (Fortunately, it was summer vacation.)

The life of her great-grandfather intrigued Silver. The diary was a way for her to experience a life that was forbidden her. Ash's daily entries continually left her puzzled, amazed, or just plain laughing. They also described the personalities of Misty, Brock, and even Pikachu.

It seemed that Silver had judged Misty correctly. Almost every entry listed an argument between Misty and Ash. She seemed to think the world revolved around her, and would bite the head off anybody who disagreed. She was constantly butting heads with Ash. _She drives me crazy! _Ash had written, _Why does everyone think I like her?_

Silver now realized why she had recognized Brock. He had been the gym leader of Pewter City, and was now recognized as the best Pokémon breeder of all time. The position of Pewter Gym Leader had been passed down through his family. No wonder the current Gym Leader looked just like him! 

Pikachu never failed to amuse Silver. The little electric Pokémon was full of personality and continually had a mind of his own. He insistently rode on Ash's head or backpack, and would shock anyone if provoked. But he obviously loved Ash as more than a trainer, as a friend. 

Silver waited until she had read the diary at least three times before showing it to her parents, but when she did, they were amazed. As she continued to read the diary throughout the week, her parents seemed to study her intensely. Everywhere she went in the house, Silver felt their eyes on her. _What's wrong?_ She wondered. _I'm remembering to take care of Mew now, and I've hardly done anything this week._ _It's not like I've done anything wrong…_

Silver continued her wondering until Sunday evening, when her parents called her into the den. She sat down on the couch and stared at them.

Her mother spoke first, "Silver, honey, we've been watching you this week and thinking about how we never let you go on a Pokémon journey…" 

Her father continued, "We've decided that since you now understand what being a Pokémon trainer is like that you're old enough to make your own decision about becoming a trainer or not." 

Silver gasped. She had never expected this. But already she felt free, able to do what she wanted. "When can I start?" she queried happily.

Her mother laughed. "How about Tuesday?" she asked. "We have to get you some supplies first. Oh, and one more thing. I was talking to Amanda's mother yesterday and it seems that Amanda is going to start a Pokémon journey this week too. You could travel with her!" 

__

Great, just great, thought Silver._ Amanda is the most annoying person I know. She hates me! How could anybody as stuck-up as her possibly train Pokémon?_ "Uh, I think I'd rather just travel alone, mom."

"All right, sweetie. Now get ready for bed. It's 10:00 already." 

Silver walked to her room. Mew was there waiting for her. "Mew, we're going on a Pokémon journey!" Silver said. Mew jumped excitedly into her arms, seeming to say "When do we start?" Silver giggled. She was extremely happy, but she just couldn't get Amanda (blech) out of her mind.

Silver pulled a volume out of the set of encyclopedias by her bed. She flipped to the information on Mew. _I might as well learn all of Mew's capabilities before I start out, since she's going to be my first Pokémon,_ Silver thought.

The encyclopedia entry read: Mew is mainly a psychic type Pokémon, but is unique in the fact that it can learn moves from any Technical or Hidden Machine (TM or HM). This means that Mew can be customized to any type or types that the trainer desires. Mew have high offense and defense capabilities, and are very powerful in the hands of a skilled trainer.

After reading the entry twice, Silver lay on her bed and began to think hard about how to begin training with Mew. She must have fallen asleep. Before she knew it, it was dawn.

RIIIIIIIIING! RIIIIIIIIIIING! Silver's alarm clock jolted her awake. 8:30 a.m. Why had she set her alarm so early? Oh, yeah. She needed to find supplies today. 

Silver carefully slipped out of bed (she had fallen asleep with her clothes on), being careful not to wake Mew, grabbed her wallet, scribbled a note to her parents, and headed out the door, to the Pallet Town Poké Mart. 

"Hey, Dennis," Silver called to the guy behind the counter. Silver was a regular in the store and was always there early on Mondays to see the new shipments from the Mart headquarters in Celadon City before everyone bought it all. She loved buying new kinds of Pokémon food and seeing how Mew liked them.

"Hey, Silver. We got a big shipment of the brand new Pokédex models from Silph Co. Check them out."

Silver walked to the glass display case. In it were all kinds of metallic hand-held Pokédexes. A green-and-gold colored one caught her eye. 

"Wow, how much is this one?" she queried. 

"Two thousand. The usual." Dennis answered, coming over to unlock the case so Silver could get a better look.

"I'll take it!"

"Your parents finally agreed, huh? Need anything else?"

"Yeah…" Silver glanced around the store. "A dozen pokéballs, three potions, and a bag of Pokémon feed."

"That reminds me. Headquarters sent three big boxes that I didn't open yet. Want to see what they are?"

"Yeah!" Silver exclaimed. Dennis carried out the mysterious boxes. Upon opening them, Silver and Dennis found that they contained what seemed to be silver pokéballs, 50 in each box.

Silver found a letter in one box. "In honor of Poké Day, every Poké Mart has been shipped three boxes each of all 50 Technical Machines. The first 50 customers to make purchases at the store will receive three free Technical Machines," she read.

"I completely forgot!" exclaimed Dennis. "It's the 150th anniversary of Ash Ketchum's Pokémon Hall of Fame entry!"

Silver smiled. "I guess I deserve three of those! How much will all of my stuff cost?"

Dennis rang Silver up at the cash register. "That comes to exactly five thousand. Which three TM's do you want?"

"Uh, how about Water Gun, Thunderbolt, and Earthquake?" Silver chose moves that would be strong against the first three gym leaders.

"Here you go. And here's your Pokédex." Dennis handed Silver a big bag and her new hand-held computer. 

Silver turned to walk out the door- and almost smacked into Amanda. 

"Hi, loser," Amanda smirked, "Buying more food for your crummy little Mew? Too bad you aren't allowed to become a Pokémon trainer like me."

"Actually, I was just getting my training supplies. And as for you being a Pokémon trainer, I'm sure you'll do it as badly as you do everything else." Silver walked calmly out of the store, satisfied with the look on Amanda's face.

To Be Continued


	3. Default Chapter Title

The Story of Silver Ketchum

Chapter 3- A New Friend

The rest of Monday flew by extremely fast. Tuesday came in the blink of an eye for Silver. And then, after a teary goodbye from her parents, Silver walked out of Pallet Town for the first time in her life, with Mew at her side.

When Pallet Town was out of sight, Silver and Mew began exploring the long grass all around them for new Pokémon. Nothing appeared all day. Around 6:00, Silver suggested that they find a spot to camp. Mew found a small clearing surrounded by trees and bushes. It seemed like the perfect spot. But, just as Silver was about to sit down and rest, something crashed out of the bushes behind her.

"Mankey!" it screeched. Silver flipped out her Pokédex, having absolutely no idea what the thing was.

"Hello, I am Albert, your new Pokédex," a mechanical voice droned. "What sort of information do you require?"

"Uh, what is that thing?" Silver asked, pointing Albert at the round, fuzzy animal.

"Mankey, a monkey Pokémon. This Pokémon manages to survive by its superior adaptational and evolutional qualities. Mankey have very short tempers and are fighting type Pokémon." 

"Finally, a Pokémon to fight!" Silver said. "Mew, battle it!"

Mew stared at her, confused. 

Silver sighed. "Mew, when I tell you to battle, you have to use your attacks to fight, okay?"

"Mew! Me-Mew! Mew!" 

Silver smiled. Mew jumped in front of the Mankey, which was getting tired of being ignored. It instantly tried to knock Mew out with its Karate Chop attack.

"Mew, Amnesia attack, now!" Silver yelled. Mew stared intently at the Mankey, seeming to hypnotize it. The Mankey staggered, and tripped over its own tail. 

"Maaan…" The Mankey couldn't get up.

"Good job, Mew! Pokéball, GO!" Silver enlarged a ball to shot-put size and threw it at the Mankey, which was instantly sucked inside. It wobbled around madly, and… the Mankey broke free, scurrying off into the foliage.

"Oh, well…" Silver picked up the fallen Pokéball, and she and Mew proceeded to set up camp for the night. 

They set off toward Viridian City the next day, along the peaceful path of Route 1. Mew was almost drop-kicked by a Nidorino, which also refused to be caught, and needed to use one of Silver's Potions. During the middle of the day, Silver realized something.

"Hey, I wonder why we haven't run into any trainers yet?" Silver thought out loud, "It's weird- oh, great. Me and my big mouth." She had just spotted a boy, about her age, leaning against a tree. He couldn't see Silver or Mew, though. He was feeding a Poliwhirl.

"Mew, be really quiet, let's just try to sneak past. I don't want to get in any battles while I have only one Pokémon."

Mew looked miffed. "Sorry, Mew. I didn't mean it that way."

They tried to sneak past but just as they were almost a safe distance away, Mew stepped on a fallen twig, which broke with a loud snap. The boy might not have heard it, but the Poliwhirl sure did.

"Whirl, poli! Poli!" it croaked, pointing directly at Silver and Mew. Silver promptly groaned and slid to the ground.

"Are you okay?" the boy asked. He walked toward them.

"Uh, yeah." Silver knew exactly what was coming. Or did she? There was something different about this kid.

"Cool. I'm Jacen." He helped Silver to her feet. He was taller than he had originally looked, much taller than Silver.

"I'm Silver. You- you don't want a Pokémon battle?"

"If you want…" Jacen reached for one of the Pokéballs on his belt.

"No- I only have one Pokémon, and it got hurt not very long ago, and it's not really powerful since I just started yesterday…"

"That's okay. I'm looking for water Pokémon, not trainer battles."

"Why water Pokémon?"

"I'm trying to beat the Pewter gym leader. I've lost to him three times in a row. I figure that I need to rethink my strategy. Water Pokémon are strong against rock." 

Silver nodded. That seemed like a good strategy. "I'm jut trying to find Viridian City, never mind Pewter." 

"Hey, I'll come with you. I was just about ready to start heading there myself."

Silver smiled. "I could use someone who knows more about training than I do."

Just then a fierce rustling noise began coming from the bushes to their right. After a moment a two-headed bird burst through. 

"A Doduo!" exclaimed Jacen. "Try and catch it, Silver. Psychic power is pretty good against Flying power."

"Mew, go!" Silver yelled. Mew dodged the two pecking heads and used Swift. Razor-sharp stars of light sliced the Doduo, draining its health. But the bird wasn't about to faint yet. It began scratching and pecking at Mew with its Fury attack. When Mew was thrown by a particularly nasty kick, Silver ran to her, with Jacen right behind. Silver picked Mew up and healed her with another Potion. Mew struggled, wanting to keep fighting the Doduo.

"Are you sure, Mew?" Silver asked cautiously. 

"Mew!" Mew jumped out in front of her adversary. 

"Then use your Psychic attack!" Silver called.

Bolts of psychic power suddenly knocked the Doduo to the brink of unconsciousness. "Pokéball, GO!" Silver yelled. The Doduo was transformed into energy and drawn inside. It hardly put up a fight, and the light on the ball quickly faded.

"All right! We did it, Mew!" Silver grabbed the ball containing her new Doduo. Mew jumped happily into her arms.

Over dinner, Silver and Jacen got to know each other. He was from Celadon City, and had come to Pallet Town a month ago to begin training. He had four Pokémon, an Arbok, a Raticate, a Graveler, and the Poliwhirl. 

In the morning, the trio set off for Viridian City, totally oblivious to the fact that they were being watched with _very_ observant eyes…

To Be Continued


	4. Default Chapter Title

The Story of Silver Ketchum

Chapter 4- The Forest Battle

Silver stared. She, her Mew, and her friend Jacen were standing on a hill overlooking the largest city she had ever seen. Okay, so it wasn't that big. It was bigger than Pallet, Silver's hometown. 

Suddenly, the earth shook. A huge monster blocked out the sun. It wasn't a Pokémon. It looked like a huge mutated version of Amanda, Silver's arch rival. The thing laughed, sickeningly. Silver screamed.

And woke up. She gasped for air, and then laughed at herself for being scared by such a stupid dream.

Silver glanced around. Mew and Jacen weren't awake yet. Silver pulled out her hand-held Pokédex computer. "Albert, what time is it?" she said, quietly.

Albert the Pokédex pinged. "The time is- 7:43 and eighteen seconds."

"Wow, no wonder no one's awake."

"Meeeeew," Mew yawned and walked towards Silver- accidentally stepping on Jacen.

"Huh? Five more minutes…" Jacen muttered groggily. Silver laughed. 

Twenty minutes later the trio were discussing what they were going to do that day, head straight for Viridian City, or try to catch more Pokémon. They decided to hunt for more Pokémon near the lake where Jacen had caught his Poliwhirl. 

Near noon, Silver decided that water Pokémon were not early risers. She decided to take a hike around the lake. 

Meanwhile, a Pikablu sulked across the lake from Silver. It was feeling more than a little ticked off at its trainer, which had insulted, abused, and then abandoned it. Right now Pikablu wanted revenge against its horrible trainer and the rest of the trainer's Pokémon, which weren't much nicer. Maybe it could find a better trainer.

Approaching footsteps alerted Pikablu's little ears to the presence of a human. A trainer? Maybe. Pikablu's'eyes scanned the girl (hmm, I wonder who it could possibly be?) and saw the Pokéball on her belt. A trainer! But what if she didn't like him either? Impulsively, Pikablu raced out of the bushes as fast as its short little legs could carry it and clung to Silver's leg for dear life (don't ask me why, the brain of a Pokémon works in strange ways). 

It took Silver about ten seconds to realize what the strange weight on her right leg was. When she did, she was not happy. Silver hobbled, hopped, and tripped her way back to Jacen and Mew, trying to at least shake Pikablu off. When she finally collapsed into camp, it was all she could do to gasp out, "I think I've been adopted," before proceeding to pry Pikablu off of her jeans. 

"Try to get it in a Pokéball," suggested Jacen, "I think it wants to come with you."

"Why-would-it-want…oof!" Silver gasped. She had succeeded in prying the last of Pikablu's hands off of her. 

"Pika! Pik-a-blu! Pi!" Pikablu squeaked.

"I don't know, maybe it's been abandoned," Jacen said.

"Why would anyone abandon such a sweet little Pokémon?" Silver asked. She had obviously gotten over her prejudice toward the round little mouse.

"Some people can be pretty twisted. Maybe it wasn't strong enough for them, or they weren't a very good trainer, so it wouldn't obey them."

"Yeah." Silver grabbed something out of her backpack. "Pokéball, go!" Pikablu was willingly sucked inside, and the group continued their travels.

Late in the afternoon Mew discovered that Viridian City was just over the next hill, to the obvious relief of her trainer. Silver practically sprinted to the Pokémon center, where she met a smiling Nurse Josie and an army of Chansey nurses. While Mew, Doduo, and Pikablu were receiving medical treatment and Jacen was trying to get them rooms in the Pokécenter hotel, Silver plugged her Pokédex into the designated cord and called her parents.

After assuring her parents that she was perfectly all right and telling them about her two new Pokémon, Silver switched off Albert, her Pokédex, and collected her now-healed Pokémon. 

Silver, Jacen and Mew explored Viridian after dinner, and bought supplies for the road ahead in the Pokémart. Unfortunately, they lost track of time and were greeted by an obviously ruffled Nurse Josie at ten minutes to curfew. 

The next day, after a good night's sleep in real beds, the trio moved on to the dark, foreboding Viridian Forest. There, Doduo made short work of two trainer's Bug Pokémon and Jacen's Arbok did the same. After a hard day of traveling in the forest's perpetual twilight, the group decided to find a spot to camp, and Mew again proved herself to be an excellent campsite-finder. 

"This is great!" exclaimed Silver, "Who would have thought there'd be a clearing in the middle of this forest?"

"Yeah," agreed Jacen, "It's almost like it was…"

Just then a sharp voice called, "Hey, loser! What are you doing in my campsite?"

"…cleared for us," Jacen finished, as Amanda stormed through the bushes.

Silver shrank back, preparing to feel the wrath of Amanda, but at first sight of Jacen, Amanda forgot all about Silver.

"Oh…hi," Amanda smiled, batting her eyelashes and trying (unsuccessfully) to look cute. She appeared to have entirely dropped the tough-girl attitude in front of what she considered a hot guy. 

"Who are you?" Jacen asked, backing away.

"And who do you think you are?" Silver said, having regained her courage. "I believe it was me you had a problem with five seconds ago, wasn't it?" 

"Yeah! Now get out, unless you want my Pokémon to make you leave!"

"All right, if it's a battle you want then I choose…Doduo!"

In a flash of red light, Doduo burst out of his Pokéball for the third time that day.

"Go, Parasect!" Amanda yelled. 

"Uh, Amanda, Bug Pokémon are weak against Flying…"

"Shut up, loser! Parasect, Stun Spore!"

"Doduo, dodge it! Use Agility!"

Doduo raced around the clearing, dodging the blasts of paralyzing powder.

"Now use your Fury Attack, Doduo!"

Doduo's well-placed kicks rammed the helpless bug into several trees, knocking it unconscious.

"Parasect, return! Go Poliwrath!" yelled Amanda. She smirked when she saw that Jacen was obviously impressed with the evolved version of his Poliwhirl.

"Go, Mew! Metronome attack, now!"

Mew glowed with Psychic power. Suddenly, a bolt of scarlet light erupted from the ground, blasting the Poliwrath skyward. When it did not appear after a few seconds, Mew moved to the spot the Poliwrath had last been seen at and gazed skyward.

Silver cautioned, "Mew, I don't think that's a very good…"

WHUMP. The Poliwrath had fallen out of the sky, directly onto Mew. Both Pokémon were knocked unconscious. Silver quickly rolled Poliwrath off of Mew and gave her to Jacen, along with a Revive she had purchased in Viridian.

"Poliwrath, return!" called Amanda. "All right, loser, what's your next Pokémon?"

"Go, Pikablu!"

"Ha! That Pikablu couldn't hurt a sleeping Metapod! It's a total wimp!"

"Oh, yeah? How would you know?" yelled Silver.

"Who do you think abandoned the little wuss? Go, Machoke!"

A massive gray Pokémon burst from Amanda's Pokéball with a ridiculously high-pitched cry of "Machoke-choke!"

"PI! Pika-pika-blu! Blu-pika!" cried Pikablu in terror. It ran and hid behind Silver.

"Machoke, Mega Punch!"

"Pikablu, drench it with your Water Gun and then give it a Thundershock!" 

Machoke swung its fists at Pikablu, who dodged them and blasted Mackoke with water. This alone didn't seem to affect it, but the blast of electricity that ripped through it next sure did. Machoke fell to the ground, charred and completely knocked out.

"Machoke, return!" Amanda growled. She immediately turned and stalked inot the forest.

"You were great, Pikablu!"

"Mew!" Mew had been revived by Jacen in time to see the last of the fight.

"Thanks, Jacen."

"No problem, Silver."

Our heroes, now even more tired from the recent battle, prepared to camp for the night, not realizing that unseen eyes were watching them…

To Be Continued

(And I Swear I'll Explain Next Time)


	5. Default Chapter Title

The Story of Silver Ketchum

Chapter 5- The Underground

Daenae Malcom. The name would mean nothing to most people. But ask the right people about the "Malcom" part, and you just might get a reaction. But, of course, now you're asking "Who is this person?" 

Daenae swiveled in her chair, turning to face the monitor that had slid down from the ceiling behind her. She pushed a button, and a video from one of her surveillance cameras came into view. A video she was _very_ interested in.

In case you're wondering what this video showed, it was a recording of the battle between Silver and Amanda which you've hopefully read about. Daenae had been watching Silver for almost all the time she had been a Pokémon trainer. She sat stonily through the recording, recalling bitterly her days of Pokémon training. As Silver and Mew rejoiced after their victory, Daenae remembered how much like Silver she had been, lucky, full of talent, with loving Pokémon and many friends. 

Daenae regretted most of her past life. As a young girl, her unusually deep, masculine voice had caused her to receive much teasing and become quiet and withdrawn. But when she began to become one of the most powerful young Pokémon trainers in the world, no one laughed at her any more. It was said that she could beat any and all trainers. Daenae could, and did so regularly. This gave her much respect, but also gained her a lot of unseen, jealous enemies. Once she reached the Pokémon League Tournament, her rivals had devised a horrible plan to cause her complete humiliation. As she reached the final battle with the leader of the League, her Pokémon were switched with ones that were trained to disobey her. As she called her first Pokémon into battle, a Rhydon, it turned on her and used its most devastating attacks on her, something her enemies had never planned on happening. She was rushed to a hospital, and was released months later with no major damage except to her vocal cords, leaving her already comic voice raspy- permanently. Daenae had fled into hiding, eventually regaining control over the sad remainders of Team Rocket and hardening them into an unbeatable band of evil Pokémon trainers. But she never allowed any of them to know her first name, or to see her face. She was only known as "Malcom" now. 

When the video switched off, Daenae pushed a button on the control panel next to her. "Send in Lieutenant Saunders," she ordered into the intercom. 

Mere seconds later, a short man with thinning hair tiptoed nervously into the dark room. "Y-y-you c-called, m-m-master?" he stuttered with fear.

"Yes, Saunders. I have an important mission for you. It's so easy, even an idiot like you should be able to pull it off." Daenae pushed another button, and a freeze-frame shot of Silver popped onto the screen. "This girl could be our ticket to world domination. She has immense talent, and her Pokémon are strong."

"S-so I'm supposed t-to steal h-her P-p-pokémon?" Saunders suggested, hopefully.

"Fool! Hasn't the demise of Team Rocket taught you anything? It doesn't work to steal the Pokémon from their trainers and try to battle with them! They won't obey you!"

"S-so what's m-my m-mission, m-m-master?"

"FIND HER." Daenae hissed. "Find her and bring her to me."

To Be Continued

(Now didn't I do a good job of explaining?)


	6. Default Chapter Title

The Story of Silver Ketchum

Chapter 6- Battle for the Boulderbadge

To make a long story short, our heroes had arrived safely in Pewter City. After a quick stop at the Pokémon Center, Jacen said goodbye to Silver and Mew. After all, hadn't he only been traveling with them until they got to Pewter? As she watched him walk away, Silver felt a strange lump in her throat. She quickly shook off the feeling, and set about finding some other trainers to battle. Although her Pokémon beat two other trainers' easily, her victories were strangely hollow without Jacen. 

After a rather restless sleep at the Pokémon Center, Silver awoke to an overcast and gloomy day. Deciding that her three Pokémon companions were strong enough to beat the Gym leader, Silver headed into the center of Pewter City with Mew by her side. Before long, the imposing stone structure of the Gym loomed into view. Silver dragged the heavy doors open, and stepped cautiously into the seemingly abandoned building. 

"Hello?" she called, "Anybody here?"

A boy about her age stepped into view. (Hint: imagine Brock's twin brother) 

"I am Stoney, the Gym leader. Do you wish to challenge me…" the boy trailed off in mid-sentence. He suddenly rushed up to Silver, grabbed her hand, went down on his knees and begged, "Will you go out with me?" (See, he even has Brock's abnormally high hormone level!) 

Silver was at a loss for words. "Uh, all I really wanted was a Boulderbadge…"

"Okay, sorry. Um, you know the League rules, we will use two Pokémon each. Ready?" 

"Yeah! Go, Mew!"

"Golem, GO!"

The hulking, boulderlike Pokémon materialized out of Stoney's Pokéball. Mew let out a startled squeak at the sight of the behemoth. 

"C'mon, Mew. You know you can beat it." Silver smiled at the little Pokémon. 

"Mew!"

"That's the spirit! Use your Psywave attack!"

"Golem, block its Psychic energy with your Rock Throw!"

Several large rocks fell out of the ceiling, attempting to block the bolts of Psy energy Mew was emitting. Most of them effectively blocked the attack, but a few were blasted apart by particularly powerful shots and went on to damage the health of Mew's opponent. Seeing this, Mew decided to use her Psychic telekinesis to beat the Golem at its own game. Even Silver was surprised when several of Golem's stones came hurtling back at it. 

Even though it was becoming weak, Golem still was able to use its devastating Tackle to pound Mew into the floor. But Mew was too clever for it. Even though Mew knew she could not escape the Golem's assault, she backed so close to the wall that Golem had no choice but to ram into the wall after knocking her out. "Go…" it moaned, falling over. It was out like a light. Both trainers recalled their Pokémon. 

"You haven't trained that Mew very well. When's it going to learn to obey your commands, and not act on its own?" Stoney remarked.

"You worry about your Pokémon, and I'll worry about mine. I trust Mew," Silver snapped.

"Whatever. Go, Ebonex!"

"What the…" Silver snapped open her Pokédex.

"Ebonex. The evolved form of Onix. This rock cobra is roughly twice as big as a Gyarados, with twice the power. Few attacks are effective against it, but it has the same weaknesses as a rock Pokémon," beeped Albert the Pokédex. 

The gargantuan snake that burst out of Stoney's Pokéball was staring menacingly at Silver. It was made of pitch-black boulders but otherwise looked like a huge Arbok.

"Okay… Go, PIKABLU!"

"Pika-pi-ka-blu! Pi!"

"Ha! That pipsqueak couldn't hurt a flea!" laughed Stoney.

Silver knelt next to Pikablu. "Poor little Pikablu. Everyone underestimates you. Go show that overgrown pebble what you're made of, Pikablu!" Silver whispered. She straightened up and said, more loudly, "Pikablu, Thunderbubble, NOW!"

In case anyone has never heard of this attack, you should really have the chance to witness it. The Pokémon using it first spits a stream of water and bubbles at its opponent. It then lets out an electric shock, charging the water with a deadly amount of electricity. When the charged water hits the opposing Pokémon, the current surges through its body, usually with devastating effects.

And this was what happened now. Ebonex roared and slammed its body against the ground in agony. Unfortunately, this created an earthquake, which tossed Pikablu about like a rag doll. Both Pokémon were damaged sufficiently. 

Seeing the effects of Ebonex's attack, Stoney made a decisive move. "Ebonex, use Earthquake!"

"Pikablu, dodge the seismic waves and keep using Thunderbubble!" 

Although its rotund body was rather hard to move around, Pikablu was able to dodge most of Ebonex's assaults. Another Thunderbubble attack hit, causing Ebonex more damage.

"Ebonex, Harden!"

Ebonex glowed with renewed defensive power. Unfortunately, this allowed Pikablu to land a powerful Thunderwave attack at Silver's command. Even though Ebonex had regained a lot of defense, the attack was too strong for it. It roared once in agony, and crashed to the floor.

Stoney smiled sheepishly. "You win. You're better than you look.

"Thanks."

Stoney handed Silver a tiny silver pin. "A Boulderbadge, for defeating me. Um…you wouldn't reconsider going out with me, would you?"

"Sorry." Silver smiled at him, and took the badge. 

Silver left Pewter City later that day after healing her companions. She and Mew walked toward the omnipresent shadow of Mt. Moon, not knowing what to expect next on their adventure…

To Be Continued


	7. Default Chapter Title

The Story of Silver Ketchum

Chapter 7- Tragedy at Mt. Moon

After days of hiking, Silver and Mew had finally reached Mt. Moon. That night, they camped near the cavern entrance. We'll let them sleep for a while, so that we can catch up on what had been happening to Jacen. 

Jacen had won his first badge just before Silver, the afternoon he had left his would-be companions. Even though his success had brought a great deal of excitement, Jacen had soon become rather bored. Traveling alone was just no fun after having people around to talk to. 

Lying awake in his sleeping bag, Jacen kicked himself for leaving his friends behind. He could finally realize what they had meant to him now that they were gone. Especially Silver. He had to admit it, she was special. Silver was unlike any of the ditzy breed of girls that populated his hometown. He decided to catch up with her and apologize. Jacen yawned. Well, maybe in the morning.

Guess what? It's morning…

Mew and Silver explored the first few room-like caverns of Mt. Moon, but saw none of the Pokémon Albert's map function had promised her. Just as Mew was beginning to noisily inform her that it was nearly lunchtime, a tinkling "triii…" echoed throughout the cavern.

As if appearing from nowhere, a tiny glittering animal fluttered into the cavern on butterfly-like wings, continuing to emit its sweet, rather bewitching cry. It was perhaps eight inches long, a sort of cross between a Jigglypuff and a Clefairy, but not as pudgy as either. 

Silver instinctively pulled out Albert, her Pokédex. "Clemyth. This Pokémon will eventually evolve into a Clefairy. It flutters on delicate wings, which will become stunted and unfunctional when it evolves. This Pokémon uses Sleep attacks, as well as a variety of Normal and Psychic powers. Clemyth are very rarely seen by humans."

"All right!" Silver cried, pulling a Pokéball out and enlarging it to shot-put size. "Go, Doduo!"

"Doooo! Duo!" the two-headed bird cried. 

The Clemyth trilled in surprise, but was instantly on the defensive with its Sing attack. Doduo acted quickly and hid its heads under the sandy cavern floor, looking like a strange ostrich but avoiding the mystical music. At Silver's command, Doduo slammed it into a wall, but not before Clemyth had Psywaved it. 

The enraged Clemyth blasted into its super powerful Metronome attack. That's when things began to go wrong…

Meanwhile, Jacen raced to catch up with his former companions. He had found their campsite only minutes ago, and he followed their tracks all the way into Mt. Moon. Noises ahead caused him to run even faster…

The extreme force of the Metronome blast had completely missed Doduo's Agility, and had instead crashed into the walls. Clemyth was drained of energy by now. Ignoring the ominous rumbling throughout the wall behind her, Silver tossed a Pokéball. 

The wall suddenly collapsed, sending a stream of fair-sized rocks tumbling directly toward Silver. Frozen in shock, she barely had time to scream in pain as the rockslide knocked her unconscious and half-buried her. There was no time to notice that her Pokéball's light had faded to grey after a slight struggle…

Jacen had arrived just in time to witness all this. He rushed to Silver's side, where Mew, who had escaped unharmed, was already scrabbling at the rock that covered her limp form. Together, they pulled away the rocks and Jacen scooped Silver's surprisingly lightweight body into his arms. She was barely breathing.

"We have to get her to a hospital," he remarked, to no one in particular. Thinking only to reach medical facilities in Cerulean City, Jacen raced into the bowels of the mountain, with Mew right behind. Mew absently grabbed the unresponsive Pokéball as she ran. 

When it was obvious that Jacen was hopelessly lost, he called out his Arbok. "Arbok, lead us to the nearest exit, okay?" 

Suddenly, a tall, thin man stepped out of the shadows. "Who are you?" Jacen demanded when the man refused to let him pass.

"My name is Saunders. I have strict orders to deliver that young lady and her Pokémon to my master. You will do as I say, or face the consequences." 

"Why should I believe you? Let me through, now!"

"Very well, then. Don't say I didn't warn you." The stranger pulled a Pokéball out. "Go…oh, &@*$#!"

Jacen had taken advantage of the stranger's preoccupation with his Pokémon and had run off to follow Arbok, with Mew in close pursuit.

Nurse Jill was bored. It was her first day on the job in the hospital, and so far she had gotten to absolutely NOTHING all day! Nurse Jill sighed, adjusting one of her magenta loops of hair in the reflection of the computer screen. She almost wished for an emergency, so that the day wouldn't be a total loss…

The automatic doors pinged suddenly, and a tall kid sprinted through, screeching to a halt in front of the speechless Nurse Jill, with something in his arms, and a Pokémon following him. He motioned breathlessly to the bedraggled girl in his arms. "She…rockslide…mountain…help…" he gasped.

Ordinarily, Nurse Jill would have jumped for joy at the prospect of saving someone's life, but professionalism took over. "Get me a stretcher out here, STAT!" she called.

Whew, this is taking more space than I expected.

Nevermind. ~Ahem.

Will Silver survive? What will happen to Jacen and Mew? Did you figure out what happened to Clemyth? Why am I asking rhetorical questions? Find out next time…

TO BE CONTINUED

(In hopefully a short amount of time for all you impatient people out there)


	8. Default Chapter Title

The Story of Silver Ketchum

Chapter 8- Tragedy at Mt. Moon, Cont.

Nurse Jill pushed her way through the swinging doors into the waiting room. She could see the kid out there, looking half-crazed from shock, worry, and fatigue. She hated to tell him the news she had. But the kid spoke before Jill could even open her mouth.

"How is she?"

"Stable. We've got her heart beating normally, but she's deeply unconscious. While she's just unconscious, there's hope, but if she slips into a coma I can pretty much guarantee she'll…" Jill couldn't get the word out. "A-anyway, something must've hit her head pretty hard, but none of her bones are broken. She's just bruised from the rocks." Jill gushed, feeling extremely guilty about the look of utter fear and despair on the kid's face.

Jacen's face slowly lapsed into a stony expression of shock. _Everything changes so quickly_, he thought._ And there's nothing you can do about it. _He looked up. "Can I see her?"

"Um…okay." Jill really didn't have the heart to do anything to keep him out of the emergency ward. What harm could he do, anyway?

Three days later….

Jill tiptoed into the nearly silent room, the seraphic stillness broken only by the regular beeping of Silver's heart monitor. Jacen and Mew were asleep, Jacen by the bedside, where he had sat for the last 72 hours, and Mew curled beside Silver's head. Jacen stirred, and awoke, staring at Jill with sunken eyes. 

Jill tried to smile, and slid a tray of food into his hands. Jacen sighed. He had might as well eat something. Jill tiptoed back out of the room. The _whish _of the sliding door startled Mew awake. It stared placidly at Jacen. Mew gently prodded Silver whit its nose, sighed, and went back to sleep. 

_Poor little thing. It'll starve to death if Silver doesn't wake up soon. But…what if she never wakes up?_ Jacen shuddered at the thought.

The hapless vigil continued for another day. As the sun dropped beyond the horizon, Jacen coaxed Mew to eat while Jill tried to convince it that Silver didn't really need to be watched 24-7. Jacen eventually dropped off to sleep at Silver's side.

A sudden noise jolted him awake. Where was he? The sun was shining throught the large windows of the hospital-and Jacen was lying on one of the couches in the waiting room! Why had he been moved? Where was Mew? The little pokemon yawned itself awake, stirred from its sleep by Jacen's sudden movements. This calmed him for a moment, but the deathly stillness of the hospital sent a thousand thoughts through his head, most of them things he wished with all his heart had not happened.

Jacen raced toward Silver's hospital room, dreading what he would find there. He was greeted by a grinning Nurse Jill, who was supporting a definitely awake and equally smiling Silver. Jacen's mouth dropped open.

A doctor may have thought that a person who has only recently woken from unconsciousness may be woozy, but Silver's mind was perfectly clear as she slipped her arms around Jacen's neck and kissed him softly. "Thank you," she whispered.

That afternoon, after departing Nurse Jill and the hospital for the hilly, cave-riddled area outside of Cerulean City, Silver wondered aloud, "I wonder whatever happened to Clemyth?" At this, Mew jumped to her shoulder and presented Silver with a small round object she had been guarding for the last five days. It was a pokeball. Silver raised an eyebrow, confused, but pushed the button to open the ball. 

"Clee…" a trill from the faery pokemon that had suddenly disappeared in Mt. Moon sounded forth, Clemyth fluttered about, growing accustomed to the bright outdoors. It the fluttered to Silver's unoccupied shoulder.

Silver smiled. "Welcome to the group, Clemyth."

As the day turned once more to night, and the trio prepared for a well-deserved rest Silver recalled that her birthday was not too far away….

To Be Continued


	9. Default Chapter Title

The Story of Silver Ketchum

Ch. 9-The Mysterious Birthday Gift

Mew yawned itself awake. Finding her master still asleep and unable to release any of her other pals from their Pokéballs, Mew rummaged around in Silver's backpack, looking for something to do. Silver's Pokédex, Albert, flopped out of the bag and opened, automatically activating itself. 

"_Ping_ the date is July 12 _Ping_ the time is 7:52 and three seconds _Ping_ no pokémon to identify _Ping _enter authorization code to access other features …10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1. User has failed authorization. Beginning alarm. BREEE! BREEE! BREEE!"

"Mew!" Mew squeaked in surprise at the pokedexes loud outburst. Silver and Jacen were jerked awake by the alarm, which Silver quickly shut off.

Later that morning, Silver was hit by a revelation. Just as she was about to send Mew after a wandering Vileplume, she remembered what day it was. 

"My god, I can't believe that I forgot it was my birthday!"

The Vileplume scurried away, but Silver didn't really care.

"You forgot that it was your birthday?!" Jacen sat next to where the stunned Silver had slid to the ground. 

"I can't believe it. But it is. July 12. I'm fourteen now."

"Man, I wish you had told me. I'd have bought something in Pewter. Hey, wait a minute…" Jacen dived into his backpack. 

He pulled out a small object, the size of a flat, asymmetrical golf ball. He grinned. "I knew this would come in handy sometime." Jacen ceremoniously handed it to Silver. "Happy Birthday!"

Silver gasped in awe. The stone Jacen had given her was unlike anything she had ever seen. Smooth and cool to the touch, inside its glasslike surface was a shimmering, silver-gray mist. The mist flowed and mover as if it were fog contained within the shiny stone. "It's beautiful," she breathed. 

"I have no idea what it is," Jacen continued, "It looks like an evolution stone, but it doesn't seem to do anything to any pokémon I've tried it on. It just appeared in my backpack after I left Celadon."

Meanwhile, Mew had taken a definite interest in the stone. Suddenly she grabbed it from her owner, tail-whipped it into the air, and fixated an intense gaze upon it. The stone seemed to float, and suddenly a bolt of light appeared from it, bathing Mew in its glow. As it plopped to the ground, Mew's body continued to glow, and now Mew had taken a new form, stretching taller than Jacen or Silver. Mew's arms and legs stretched into powerful limbs, her tail thickened, balancing her now kangaroo-like form. Mew had become a Mewtwo.

__

Hello, Silver. An eerie tingle ran through both Silver and Jacen. Mew/Mewtwo's psychic voice was unlike anything they had ever heard. _I am not truly Mewtwo. I am only the form, the essence of one. I have not the personality of him. This stone is the legendary Mist Stone. Mewtwo had vowed to destroy it, but his reform prevented him from ever doing any more harm. I will soon return to my original form, but I sense danger for us all. I am afraid Mewtwo is still alive, after all these years…now that we can communicate, your safety will be more guaranteed. This is my message to you: if ever I, in my Mew form, jump onto your backpack, Silver, please evolve me with the stone. I am afraid Mewtwo will attempt to harm the Stone's bearer, if only to destroy it._ Mew again performed her evolution trick, but now shrank back to the body of a Mew.

This had truly shaken Jacen and Silver, but they continued to travel through the cave-riddled area outside of Cerulean City. That night, they decided to camp inside a cave at the foot of Mt. Moon. Just as their fire started, a crash from deep inside the cave caused Mew to jump hurriedly onto Silver's backpack. But Silver never even got a chance to open the pack. 

All at once a large something smashed the extremely terrified Silver against the wall. _Where is it? Tell me! Wait! Are you…no, it couldn't be…you are! You are the great granddaughter of that incorrigible Ash Ketchum! Well, where is it?!_

"Wh-where's what?" Silver stared directly into the face of a Mewtwo-the Mewtwo, sorry. 

__

TELL ME! Where is the Stone? Where did you get it? Must I destroy you, too? No…you do not know where it came from…it was only given to you…

Mewtwo released its psychic hold on Silver, who slid to the ground with a scared whimper. He glanced around, like a bloodhound on the scent. _You…you are the one who held the Stone first…tell me who gave it to you…_Mewtwo stared menacingly at Jacen. 

"I-I don't know. It-it just appeared."

__

No. You're holding something back. I can sense it. Your thoughts give it away…tell me…tell me or it will be worse for you. 

"Really, I-I don't know where it came from, believe me."

Mewtwo shook its head. It could sense a weakness in the human. _The girl. You wouldn't want to see her hurt, destroyed…_Mewtwo turned, fixated on a stalactite, cracking it with his psychic power. It hurtled toward Silver-and stopped, suspended by Mewtwo's sheer will. Silver gaped, paralyzed with fear. _Tell me, human, or else!_

Stop! Don't you dare hurt either of them!

Mew had finally opened Silver's backpack and used the Mist Stone.

__

Impostor! You have no power over me! Your ancestors tried to do as you are doing, tried to stop me and be the hero…I struck them all down. You have no control over my actions…

Mew glanced at the stalactite hanging precariously over Silver. It instantly crumbled into harmless dust. _I don't?_

What? How could you…impossible! How…

Your power is waning. The search for this stone has weakened you. If I allow you to destroy it, will you swear to forever leave humans in peace?

Yes…I see now that you are correct. I will promise as you ask. 

Mew de-evolutionized one last time, and the mist stone floated toward Mewtwo. He glowed, and a huge blast of dark energy enveloped the stone, blasting it into a million microscopic pieces.

As the dust stirred by the attack cleared, it was apparent that Mewtwo had disappeared. 

Later…

Silver toweled off her hair after a long shower at the Cerulean City Pokécenter. It felt good to be back in civilization again. Spotting a long white box on her bedside table, she curiously walked over and opened it. Inside was the most beautiful necklace Silver had ever beheld. A gold chain as fine as spider's silk, from which hung a tiny pendant in the shape of a Mew, perhaps a centimeter long, with a minuscule diamond eye. There was no tag, but there was really no need for one. "Thank you, Jacen," she whispered as she admired the gift in the mirror.

The End

To Be Continued, as usual

Well, what did you think? Too warm and fuzzy? TOUGH BEANS! I like it. Anyway, the next one will probably be a hilarious April Fool's Day one, so be prepared!

__


	10. Default Chapter Title

Author's Note: About the April Fools episode….I guess you could call it an April Fool's joke=P. My computer was sick so I never got around to it. Forgive me? ::makes puppydog eyes::

The Story of Silver Ketchum

Chapter 10-Stolen Soul Pt. 1

CERULEAN CITIZENS AND POKEMON TRAINERS ASK: WHERE IS CERULEAN GYM LEADER?

_What a corny headline_, thought Jacen. _Can't a guy take a vacation without the paparazzi jumping down his throat?_ He sighed, and put down the copy of the _Cerulean Sentinel_. Where was she?

The elevator pinged, and Silver stepped out, smiling as though nothing were the matter. "Where were you?" Jacen asked. "We agreed on meeting five minutes ago!"

"Since when is five minutes late?" Silver retorted. 

"Since now! We have to walk to the gym, and at this rate, there'll be a line halfway around the block to compete for Cascadebadges!"

"Who said anything about walking?"

"Wha—Silver, have you gone nuts or something?"

"Not by a long shot, bud. Guess who conned Nurse Jenn into letting us use the Center's motorbikes?" Silver grinned.

Ten minutes later, two motorbikes screeched to a halt in front of the Cerulean Gym. Silver, Jacen and Mew hopped off, eager to get inside. They were greeted by an angry crowd at the doors. Snatches of annoyed conversation could be heard.

"Where is he?"

"…outrageous, doors have been locked for over a month…"

"…calling my lawyer if something isn't done!"

Silver tapped a nearby boy on the shoulder. "Um, could you tell me why…"

"It's the gym leader, Tydail Searider! He hasn't been seen in over a month and everyone has to skip getting their Cascadebadges! No one can get in to battle him!"

Jacen looked depressed. "I guess that's what we'll have to do…"

Silver dragged him out of the way of the crowd. "No way am I going to skip this gym! I refuse to have come all this way for nothing! We are going to find a way into this gym or die trying!"

"Okay, now I'm _sure_ you've gone nuts…"

"Jacen, think about it. Either we have to skip it and come all the way back here, probably missing the League competitions, or we just climb up on the roof and get in through an air duct or something."

"Oh, yeah, sure, and then we get caught and charged with breaking and entering!"

"Not if we have a good enough reason!"

"Silver! Let's just let it wait for a day or something. I bet there's a chance that those crowds will convince him to open up soon…and if not…and you find a _really_ good reason to make me believe he's not coming out…"

"Okay, okay-what was that?!" Silver glanced around, searching for some discernible sound in the riot the crowd was making.

"What was what?"

"I could have sworn I heard someone crying…"

"It's probably nothing, just the wind or something…"

"No, it was a little kid. It came from over there." Silver jogged off around the side of the building.

"Silver! Wait, get back here! Silver!"

Jacen's eyes met a sight that would have made a professional wrestler go "Aww…how cute!" A tiny girl, probably no more than six and clothed in rags that had once been a pretty summer sundress, sat huddled against the side of the building, tears streaming silently down her face. Her hair was cobalt blue and pulled back in a ponytail. She sniffled and looked up at them. 

"Hi…what's wrong?" Silver knelt down beside the tiny form.

"I can't find my daddy and I don't have anywhere else to go and I'm cold and hungry and tired and scared and Mari is sick."

"We'll help you. What's your name?"

"Skye Searider."

"Are…is your daddy the gym leader here?"

Skye nodded. "I went out a long time ago because he wouldn't talk to me and was acting really funny and I wanted to play with Mari outside and I couldn't get back in."

"Who's Mari?"

Skye pulled out a specially made blue Pokeball. The energy released turned into the form of a small blue and white Pokemon with large rabbit-like ears. Silver whipped out her Pokedex while it struggled to its feet. 

"Ping! Mariru, or Raiblu, is the evolution of Marill, or Pikablu. This Pokemon loses most of its electric characteristics upon evolution to this form, and becomes predominantly a water Pokemon."

The Mariru, obviously Mari to Skye, let out a small whimper, and flopped to the ground. It certainly looked very weak. 

"Oh, the poor thing." Silver's eyes glistened with emotion for the suffering Pokemon. "Will you come with us to the Pokemon Center so Nurse Jenn can make her better?"

"::sniffle:: 'Kay."

Later on, at the Center, Jacen and Silver discussed the situation while Skye, Mew, and now-perky Mari played with each other in the lobby. 

"I think finding Skye's father is a good enough reason to get into the gym, don't you?" Silver said, smiling as Mew dangled upside-down from a magazine rack, making silly faces.

"Yeah. But we still have to figure out when we should do it, and how exactly we can get it."

"Easy. The place is a huge aquarium, so there must be some way for people to get in through the roof to clean it."

"Maybe."

"I'll wake you up when its time to go, then." Silver grinned.

9:30 at night. Skye was sleepy, but Silver persisted as she gathered a flashlight and equally sleepy Mew. Jacen, armed with another flashlight, joined them in the lobby as they snuck out the doors. They made their way to the gym quietly, and scaled a little-used maintenance ladder at the back of the building. It led to a small door in the domed roof. It was locked. 

"Great. No what are we supposed to do?"

"Mew, see if you can shift it." 

Mew glowed softly, and the lock clicked. The door swung open on well-oiled hinges. 

The four walked in quickly and found themselves on a catwalk encircling the perimeter of the building. It did, indeed look over the aquarium tanks. The ceiling was low, posing no threat to Mew or Skye, but the taller two had to stoop. They made their way in silence halfway around the building, finally finding a stairway down to a sparsely lit hallway. A door at one end opened onto the main hallway, lined with fish tanks. The maintenance hall continued on the other side of the tanks, not visible from the other side.

Skye ran on ahead, in familiar territory now. She stopped at a door, punching a code into the keypad. The door opened silently.

"This is my room."

Silver and Jacen smiled at the little girl's priorities. Skye had already hopped onto her bed and was hugging a Dragonair stuffed animal. The room was shaped like a bubble, with smoothly sculpted walls. Everything was shades of soothing blue. 

"I love your room, Skye! It's really pretty. Can you show us where your dad's room is?"

"Sure!" Skye ran out again, pausing to close the door behind her. 

HAND CRAMP!

Sorry, guys, this one's gonna be a two-parter. It's just becoming too darn elaborate a plot. Good thing for the story, bad thing for author's wrists.

To Be Continued


	11. Default Chapter Title

The Story of Silver Ketchum

Chapter 10-Stolen Soul Pt. 2

Silver shivered. The room was cold, impersonal, mechanic. The cylindrical walls a metallic grey-blue. Electronic gadgets were scattered over the modern furnishings.

Skye yawned. "I'm so sleepy. Can I go back to my room?"

"Okay."

"Will you come and tuck me in?"

"Sure! Jacen, see if there's anything interesting in here. I'll be right back."

The little girl fell asleep almost instantly. Silver shut off the light and jogged back down the hall.

"I'm back. What is all this stuff, anyway?"

Jacen pointed to a pile of circuit boards and various electrical components. "I think that's a Pokedex…or at least what's left of it."

Silver inspected some of the more complete gadgets on the desk while Jacen moved to the bedside table. Mew scooted under the bed.

"Mew! Mew-me-mew-mew!" Mew squeaked excitedly, pushing her find out from under the bed.

"Oh my god. I thought these were illegal…" Jacen stared at the little machine.

"What is it?"

"A memory cache. They used to be used to obliterate painful memories from people who had experienced horrible tragedies. The technology was copied and used to make people forget who they were and make them into brainless slaves…people said the memory erasures were addictive, like a drug. And they banned them. But people still used them. Every once in awhile, they would totally erase a big part of their life. The machines became more like humans than the humans who used them…"

"Creepy…"

"Yeah. Look at this, the thing is almost full…"

"He erased himself…"

"It looks like it, but why?"

Wanting to see what the big deal was about her discovery, Mew hopped forward and began nosing at the gadget.

"Mew, don't!"

It was too late. The device had already slipped off the edge, crashing to the ground and sliding across the floor.

"I hope it isn't broken…aa!" Jacen jerked his hand back just as the machine exploded into light. The light became a whirling vacuum above the device, creating a howling wind within the tiny room.

Silver's hair whipped around her face as she backed up against the wall, holding Mew tightly. Jacen joined her, feeling her hand clutch his, more for support than anything else. Even though this probably wasn't the best time for it to be doing so, his heart did a little flip.

But now the whirlwind's glow was changing. The once yellow-white light was becoming dark, not light in the best sense of the word, but some kind of dark matter with a bluish glow. And then the machine exploded again, sending shrapnel in every direction. Jacen and Silver hit the deck. 

Eerie laughter filled the room. The dark matter had formed a shape both human and inhuman, like the ghost of a shadow. Not thinking of anything but getting away from the monster, the three fled, darting down this passageway and that, following the circular halls blindly. Silver turned suddenly, pushing through a swinging door. "In here!"

The door slammed behind them, and the three were faced with complete silence and bright light, in contrast with the stark lighting of the rooms they had come from, which blinded them temporarily. The soft splash of water met their ears as their eyes adjusted to the light.

An Olympic-sized swimming pool dominated the room, its crystal-blue water lapping gently against the edges. The bleachers, once filled with fans, now stood empty, silent.

A sudden noise made the intruders look toward the ceiling. Twenty feet above, a figure catapulted off the high dive, doing a perfect backflip into the pool, making barely a splash. It swam swiftly to the side opposite them , climbing out and wrapping a towel around its waist.

It was the figure of a man. Tall, muscular with shoulder-length, wavy cobalt blue hair and a goatee to match. He seemed to be in some sort of trance, his eyes unrecognizing, unseeing, his manner detached from the world around him.

A sudden rush of air stirred through the room. The ground trembled ominously. Silver grabbed Mew instinctively just as the wall behind them exploded. Silver dove sideways, rolling into a corner to break her fall. Jacen hit hard beside her, clutching his shoulder in pain.

"You okay?" She gently touched the injured shoulder, looking to see if anything was amiss.

"Yeah, it's just a bruise…" Jacen turned his head suddenly, trying to see what had caused the explosion.

The thing that had chased them here, the dark inhuman form of surpressed memories, was floating over the water towards the man who had remained indifferent throughout the whole incident. When it had reached him, it extended a hand slowly, ominously…

Silver yelped in surprise. A bolt of energy crashed through the room as the darkness was sucked inside the human form. 

The man instantly turned, suddenly alert, his eyes focusing on them. A twisted sneer broke out across his face. "So…you've discovered me…no matter. You won't live long enough to tell anybody. I suppose I'll allow you an explanation before I destroy you."

"This piffling human form I exist in is no more than a puppet…I take his voice, I use him to communicate. The fool…I tricked him in to using the machine I was trapped in, to feed me thoughts, memories…to give me life. He used me…I will use him…to rejoin my master…"

"And now you three will be the first casualties of my rise to power…I suppose this is goodbye, then." The form raised a hand, gathering dark energy…

"Wait! You can't kill us! At least give us a chance to fight…" Jacen's voice broke the figure's concentration, allowing the gathering energy to dispel.

"Foolish humans…what could you do to fight against me? Would you use your little pets…those…Pokemon? They have no effect on me."

Now it was Silver's turn to speak. "The human you inhabit has Pokemon…if we defeat them…?"

"Very well, it will be entertaining to watch you pitiful efforts…go ahead."

"Mew, Clemyth, Pikablu, Doduo, go!"

"Arbok, Raticate, Poliwhirl, go!"

There was another flash, and six Pokemon appeared before them. Before they could get a sense of who they were facing, the dark energy mutated the Pokemon to horrid forms that no one could describe. Fangs and claws glistened under matted fur. Sonorous breathing broke the stillness. Hisses and growls reverberated inside the room.

"Raticate, you go first." Jacen's voice sounded like a prophecy of doom. The brave Pokemon stepped up, ready to fight for its masters life. 

The battle was quick. Jacen had trained Raticate to use its Quick Attacks well. The galumphing mutant it took on was no match for the razor sharp teeth that assaulted it. Within minutes, the thing fainted and faded back to its original form- a Lapras. Raticate, tired from the battle, was retired to a Pokeball.

Clemyth was next. Its opponent was waterborne, sliding through the water of the pool, spitting poisonous goo at the flitting butterfly-like form above it. A well-placed Psychic attack nearly defeated the mutant, but in its pain it thrashed its long tail from the water, knocking Clemyth into the element it was weakest in. Silver fished her fainted Pokemon out and had Doduo finish the opponent with a Swift. The mutant faded back into the form of a Dewgong. 

With four opponents left and five Pokemon to fight them, Jacen called out Poliwhirl. Poliwhirl and its opponent both fired the same attack at the same time, knocking out both. The mutant actually turned out to be another Poliwhirl.

Doduo was K.O.'ed almost immediately by a water-blasting serpent mutant, but Pikablu came in just in time to Electroshock the opponent back to it original Dragonair form. 

It was about then that the figure began to get angry. With an inhuman roar, Pikablu's strength was zapped, sending it into a peaceful sleep. "Hey! What the heck do you think you're doing? That's not fair!"

"What is? And, for that matter, how do you know that I won't just kill you anyway?"

Silver gaped. "Oh my god. We've been idiots."

"Daddy?"

The little girl had somehow sensed that something was wrong and had appeared in her wraithlike way, almost from nowhere. Silver and Jacen glanced between the two, gaping in fear, surprise, shock…whatever. 

The expression of evil contempt and annoyance on the former gym leader's face dissolved, leaving one of confusion, as if the man were waking up from a bad dream. "Skye…" 

Ooh, I just looove toying with you people….

TO BE CONTINUED!!!

Hehe…

I know, I haven't posted in months, but a little inspiration is a beautiful thing!


End file.
